Immigration

A while back I had the privilege of meeting Patricio, an immigrant worker from Ecuador. He worked at a pizzeria in Sunset Park, a largely Hispanic neighborhood in Brooklyn.

Patricio was kind enough to share his story with me. He told me about his journey from Ecuador and how he crossed the Mexico-US border, about being deported more than once before reaching his destination, and about the thought of never going back home.

BEIJING - Last month I went to the local police station to register again. Just like the last time, as the officer typed in my information I glanced around, and wondered about the binder with the label “学习天安门（study Tiananmen)”. When you fly to China, they give you a little card saying those foreigners not staying in a hotel are supposed to register within 24 hours of arriving in China. I haven’t always quite done that.

I have always found myself between two worlds, not always belonging in either, but always fortunate to have both.

I grew up in Mexico City with an American mother and a Mexican father.  Amongst my friends at home, I was always the gringa which, depending on the day, seemed mildly offensive.

In February 2011, rebellion spread to Libya. Muammar Gadaffi vowed to “cleanse Libya house by house,” allegedly recruiting black African mercenaries. There’s no doubt that social media has served the opposition well, but it’s also incited Libyans through implicit racial messaging, and revealed a darker side of social media that has condemned Africans trapped in Libya.

As the organ burst into a solemn anthem, and the choirmaster accompanied it with her crystal voice, all the chandeliers and candelabra sconces suddenly lit up simultaneously, like torches of golden fire – the mass began. In a second, the Catholic cathedral in Guangzhou, the largest city in southern China, was flooded with streams of flaming light and dancing gem-like colors projected on the walls from the stained glass windows.

A year of big change! That’s all I’m going to write this time around. Enjoy the video!

Perhaps it’s the August heat, but invariably whenever the summer months roll around, American political discourse always seems to get fixated on some nonsensical issue - this year is no different with talk of the proposed “Ground Zero Mosque” dominating the airwaves.  Of course the name is something of a misnomer - the “mosque” isn’t a mosque per se, but rather an Islamic cultural center that will contain a dedicated prayer facility within its 13-stories (in fact its creators stress that the prayer space officially is not a mosque) and it will not be at “Ground Zero” (the former World Trade Center site), but on